Of the numerous vermin taken to inhabiting buildings and other structures, few disturb homeowners as intensely as do bats. Since bats tend to live in colonies, one structure may house several hundred of them. Considering that bats are often carriers of rabies, this can present quite a substantial health hazard. The fact that bat guano (droppings) makes excellent fertilizer is usually of little consolation to the homeowner plagued with a sizable colony in the attic. Lastly, and most importantly, of the hundreds of varieties of animals known to man, few instill as much fear in both young and old as do bats. Those time worn tales portraying bats as blood-sucking creatures fond of entangling themselves in women's hair have resulted in the use of many largely useless remedies such as moth balls and the burning of sulfur candles. In fact, some desperate individuals have resorted to the use of dangerous pesticides such as hydrogen cyanide in order to rid themselves of the pest.
In recent years intricate traps have also been devised to exterminate bats within a structure (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,173). However, such traps tend to be inhumane, require removal of corpses following extermination, and are all but useless in preventing new bats from subsequently entering and remaining within the structure. Other more humane traps (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,638) prevent a bat from subsequently entering a structure through a familiar opening, through the use of a one-way exit door. The bat, however, is released in the immediate vicinity of the structure from which it is removed.
Consequently, a need continues to exist for a humane bat elimination device which is both safe and effective and which permanently eliminates bats from a structure while keeping new ones from inhabiting the same building. The bat elimination device should also provide for containment of the bats for controlled release in a chosen location.